She said: "If you get your self-esteem from what your body looks like, then it’s not with you when you wake up in the morning before you put your make-up on, it’s not with you when you go to bed at night and you take it off, it doesn’t grow old with you.

"So you have to find confidence in other places."

Explaining how the prickly plan began, she said: "There is so much pressure on women to conform to an artificial gender norm.

"Why did I feel I couldn’t leave the house without make-up and why did I feel I had to shave?

"My friends were getting laser hair removal, Brazilians, some of them getting Botox, my cousin got her lips done, a woman down the road had boobs done.

"There are salons in Dublin offering bixini waxes for 11 and 12 years old. Where does this end?"

Bristling with confidence: Emer found it difficult at first but now loves her hairy looks (Image: Rex Features)

However, things didn't go so smoothly when she began the experiment.

She admitted: "It was difficult at first, the under-arm hair. At first I was in cardigans all the time feeling really embarrassed about myself. "

Emer declared her boyfriend was happy with her hirsute appearance, saying: "Boys don’t care, they have body hair so they know it’s not disgusting."

Fellow guest Michelle Devine, was bowled over by Emer's enthusiasm and self-confidence - but in a vote, 80% of the This Morning audience said they still felt women should shave.

For now, Emer's happy to carry on getting hairier. She said: "Maybe at some stage I will shave, but I want it to be a choice, not something I’d have to do."